Centre sends 1200 CRPF men to Jammu in view of parade ground rally

Jammu, Aug 27 (ANI): The Centre on Wednesday rushed about 1200 additional Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel to Jammu to assist the local security forces in maintaining law and order in view of a big rally called by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti later this evening. According to official sources, 12 companies of CRPF were airlifted to Jammu from New Delhi. The Samiti, which is spearheading the agitation in Jammu region for the past six weeks over the revocation of the land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, is organising the rally at the parade ground here. On Tuesday, fresh clashes broke out between police and protesters who hurled stones and fought pitched battles with security forces. Police had to forcibly push the protesters to quell violence in Purani Mandi and Parade Ground areas in the heart of Jammu city, leaving five hurt. Protest rallies were also taken out in other parts of the region, including Samba, Udhampur and Reasi sectors. Meanwhile, curfew in the Kashmir Valley is being relaxed in a phased manner after reviewing the security situation by the authorities. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra. All the ten districts of the Kashmir Valley were under curfew for the last three days. Media reports said newspapers failed to hit the stands for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. The CRPF did not allow journalists to move and refused to honour the curfew passes and they also beat up six journalists while they were on their way to work. (ANI)